Barack Obama did not enjoy the writing process of his memoirs A Promised Land. “I don’t enjoy writing, but having written. (…) The process of writing itself is often torture,” said the former president in conversation with writer Tommy Wieringa in News hour.
“I felt really good when I finished,” Obama continues (59). He tells how he often struggled to get into “a good flow”. “That happened maybe one in ten times that I sat in front of it.”
“It doesn’t happen often, but when you read it back you think: that’s a nice paragraph, that’s a nice sentence or a beautiful description.”
According to Obama, the fame that his political career gave him now means that his book is sold a lot. “Maybe I am a better writer than a politician, but I would never have read so much if I had not entered politics.”
As president of the United States, Obama already aspired to publish a book one day. “I have managed to retain the writer’s sensitivity in me (as president, ed.). As a writer you must have the ability to see the world through someone else’s eyes and be able to put yourself in that person.
Memoires
The reason for the interview with News hour was the release of the first part of his memoir. Obama was interviewed by people from the literary world in several countries for his book, which was published on Tuesday. The American former president gave an interview in five countries in Europe, including the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. In Spain he was interviewed by Isabel Allende.
Wieringa is an author and columnist at NRC Handelsblad. According to News hour the writer was not restricted and allowed to ask Obama anything.
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